Profit vs. privacy: Facebook’s stock collapse

One of the biggest tech stories of the past week was the abrupt implosion of Facebook’s stock price after it warned investors of slowing growth and profit margins. At the center of its pessimistic outlook? The increasing impact of the profit versus privacy battle at the center of the Cambridge Analytica story and the growing inability of Facebook to control its platform and protect it from harmful misuse. Does this portend the end of social media or rather the final closing chapter in our quaint flirtation with the dream that the online world might bring with it democracy, privacy and a more informed public?